GLOUCESTERSHIRE and former Stroud cricketer Mark Alleyne has decided to hang up his bat and devote himself fully to his role as a full-time head coach with Gloucestershire.

Alleyne said: "Whilst obviously I will miss playing I will be extremely happy to continue making further contributions to Gloucestershire now solely off the field."

Alleyne, 37, joined Gloucestershire 1986 and has played for 20 seasons. Capped in 1990 and appointed captain in 1997, he scored 14,214 first class runs for the county including 20 centuries and took 407 wickets.

In addition, he scored 8011 one-day runs and took 405 in one-day matches.

He represented England in One-Day Internationals on 10 occasions.

He also captained England A on tour to New Zealand/Bangladesh and the West Indies. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2000.